Carteia

Carteia is an ancient harbour settlement near the mouth of the Guadarranque river in what is today the municipality of San Roque, roughly 13 kilometres northeast of Algeciras. Founded by Phoenician traders in the ninth century BC, it was later refounded around 171 BC as the first Roman colony established on the Iberian Peninsula — a distinction that gave it formal legal standing above ordinary provincial towns. Surviving remains include temple foundations, bathhouse structures, stretches of city wall, and port installations that testify to its role in Mediterranean trade. Designated a bien de interés cultural under Spanish heritage law, the site remains under active excavation; it is accessible to visitors but has minimal on-site facilities.